Zephaniah 2
1 Gather yourselves, gather together, O shameful nation,
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation without desire [for repentance];
2 before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you.
Before the decree is brought forth—like the chaff the day passeth away—before yet there be come over you the fierce anger of the Lord, before yet there be come over you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, who have fulfilled his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: perhaps ye will be protected on the day of the Lord's anger.
4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
For Gazzah shall become forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolate place: Ashdod shall they drive out at the noon of day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.”
Woe unto the inhabitants of the district by the sea, the nation of the Kerethites! the word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that no inhabitant shall remain.
6 So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.
And the district by the sea shall become places for pens of shepherds, and folds for flocks.
7 The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will attend to them and restore their captives.
And this district shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; thereupon shall they feed their flocks: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening; for the Lord their God will think of them, and bring back their captivity.
8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of 'Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and made themselves great against their border.
9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah— a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall become like Sodom, and the children of 'Ammon like Gomorrah, overgrown with nettles, and [filled with] salt-pits, and a desolation to eternity; the residue of my people shall plunder them, and the remnant of my nation shall possess them.
10 This they shall have in return for their pride, for taunting and mocking the people of the LORD of Hosts.
This shall they have in recompense for their pride; because they have reproached and made themselves great against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.
Terrible will the Lord [appear] over them; for he will cause to vanish all the gods of the earth; and then shall prostrate themselves before him, every one from its place, all the isles of the nations.
12 “You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.”
Also ye Ethiopians shall be those slain by my sword.
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and he will make Nineveh a desolate place, dry, like the wilderness.
14 Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar.
And there shall lie down in the midst of her flocks, all the beasts of the nations; both the pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge in the capitals of her columns; singing-birds shall sing in the windows; ruin shall be on the thresholds; for the cedar wainscoting shall be torn away.
15 This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
This is the joyful city that dwelt in security, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none else beside me: how is she become desolate, a resting-place for beasts! every one that passeth by her will hiss, and shake his hand.
